Israel is preparing a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities and will act before Tehran creates a nuclear bomb, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told an Israeli newspaper.

In an interview with Haaretz published on Sunday, Kouchner, who is on a visit to Israel, said he agreed with expert estimates that Iran needed from two to four years to More.. create a nuclear bomb.

"I think that you are well informed, and so are the Americans and so are we. It has always been the case between two and four years. But to make what? One bomb," Haaretz quoted Kouchner as saying.

Kouchner said that even one bomb would not make Iran immune to attack.

"I honestly don't believe that it will give any immunity to Iran. First, because you will eat them before. And this is the danger. Because Israel has always said that it will not wait for the bomb to be ready," he said.

ISRAEL: U.S.-Israel jet deal sought: Pentagon backs sale of next-generation F-35s fighters to ally
The Defense Department said this week that it wants to sell as many as 75 fighter jets to Israel in a $15.2 billion deal for the aircraft expected to be the mainstay of air power in the United States and several other nations for decades.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it notified Congress on Friday that Israel has asked to buy 25 of the F-35s made by Lockheed Martin Corp., with an option to buy 50 more later.

The sale would be the first to a country outside the United States and eight partner nations that are collaborating on the F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. The jet is still under development and not in service, but the United States plans to eventually acquire 2,458 planes for the Army, Marines and Air Force at a cost of $300 billion.